Birds of a Feather Flock Together
by Xianit
Summary: Fang wakes Lightning up with a feather in the face.


**Birds of a Feather Flock Together**

...

Fang opened the front door, and then kicked it shut behind her. Slowly, she crawled out of her coat, and let it drop to the floor. Lightning wasn't going to like it, but at the moment she was too tired to care.

This day had been nothing short of horrible, and it was only 9 am. In the middle of the night, she'd been called back to work to deal with a sudden outbreak of monsters on the outskirts of New Bodhum. She hadn't wasted a second. There were people's lives at stake, of course she had to go. Killing monsters was what she did best, after all.

She had briefly explained the situation to the sleepy Lightning while getting dressed. Lightning, being the brave soldier she was, had offered to come with her. Fang had refused her aid; Lightning had the right to enjoy her time off. Fang had given her a quick kiss and a promise to come back soon before leaving. Unfortunately, no one had told her exactly how bad the situation truly was.

In the end, it took the rest of the night to get the situation under control. By the time all the monsters were dead, morning was already dawning.

Needless to say, Fang was more than tired when she got back home.

Making her way to the bedroom, Fang noticed something. The house was completely dark, and all she could hear was silence. Entering the bedroom confirmed her suspicions.

Lightning lay on the bed, completely wrapped up in the blanket, still asleep. Fang couldn't help but smile at the sight.

It wasn't often that she saw her girlfriend sleeping. Lightning always woke up early, a bit too early for her liking. Many times Fang had tried to convince her girlfriend to stay in bed with her a little longer, but almost all attempts had ended in failure.

Looking at her now, Fang could only praise the gods for the happiness they had given her. Lightning looked absolutely gorgeous even while sleeping. Her pink hair was a complete mess, and the position she was lying in was far from graceful. But the calm, peaceful look on her face made Fang's heart skip a beat.

Yes, she was definitely the luckiest woman alive.

A soft whimper brought Fang back to the present. Lightning rolled over in the bed, letting out another whimper. Fang's smile widened. Sure, her girlfriend might be a cool, icy soldier on the outside, but right now, she looked pretty helpless and downright adorable. So adorable, in fact, that it seemed like a crime to do anything to her.

Fang was going to leave her alone, already halfway out of the room, before she remembered her own fatigue. Monsters, monsters everywhere, all trying to kill her. The whole damn night spent fighting.

Fang turned around, and took another look at her girlfriend. Then she grinned.

Then again, maybe Lightning was too adorable. That blissful look on her face... Not a care in the world... That's right, Lightning had slept happily through the whole night, while Fang hadn't gotten even a tiniest moment of rest. She'd spent her night with an endless horde of monsters. Perhaps it would be a crime _not _to do anything to her. Fang's grin widened.

And just like that, her fatigue was gone.

Fang took a look around. Of course, she could just use the normal tricks, like yelling Lightning's name really loud, or pouring cold water on her, but those kind of pranks just didn't have the right feel to them. This was a very special occasion, she might never get a chance to do something like this again.

It had to be something good, but not too good. If she messed up and took it too far, Lightning would surely kick her out, and she would never get the chance to do _anything_ to her. She had to do this the right way.

After quietly going through the whole house searching for some inspiration, Fang finally laid her eyes on something that she thought would do perfectly. A chocobo feather that she'd found on one of the shelves in the living room.

Fang remembered this particular feather. It was a gift from Sazh. He had given it to Lightning on their chocobo riding trip with the rest of the former l'Cie. Lightning's chocobo had suddenly gotten scared of something, thrown her off its back and fled. They never found the chocobo, so Fang had generously offered to share hers with Lightning, and the trip had continued on. Later on, Lightning had been forced to pay for the missing chocobo to the owner of the chocobo-renting ranch. After that Sazh had given her the feather, Chocolina's feather, saying it was a good luck charm.

Fang grinned at the memory. Good times. She and Lightning had gotten together just a few weeks before that trip, and they hadn't told the others. However, that hadn't stopped Lightning from groping Fang's behind after agreeing to ride with her. Of course, Fang had had no complaints.

And that was why the feather was perfect for her cause. An important gift reminding Lightning of her friends, and a memento of one of their private moments. There was no way Lightning would get too mad at her if she used this feather.

Fang cracked a smile as she stepped back into the bedroom. Perfect. Lightning hadn't moved an inch.

Without making a sound, Fang tiptoed to Lightning's side of the bed, and knelt right in front of her face. Lightning had such a pretty face, especially when she wasn't scowling. Maybe Fang should consider waking up earlier sometimes, just to see her girlfriend's sleeping face more often.

After a moment of admiring the sight before her, Fang took out the feather. Gently, she used it to stroke Lightning's cheeks, her forehead, her chin... It didn't take long before Lightning started squirming, sluggishly trying to slap the feather out of her face.

Fang grinned. She should definitely do this more often. She wiggled the feather under Lightning's nose.

That did the trick. Lightning sneezed. Fang thought it was by far the most adorable sound she'd ever heard Lightning let out. Her grin widened for a second, before completely fading away under her girlfriend's famous death glare, which was now directed at her.

"Fang. What are you doing?"

Fang had to hand it to Lightning. It was downright scary how she could act so menacing despite having just woken up.

Fang, hiding her fear, gave her girlfriend a bright smile. "Good morning sleepyhead. Rise and shine."

There was no change in Lightning's expression, or in the tone of her voice. "You didn't answer the question, Fang."

From the fact that she wasn't dead yet, Fang decided that Lightning was still too sleepy to kill her, and so it would probably be safe to answer her question. "It's already 9 am, but you were still asleep. So I just thought I'd help you wake up."

Lightning sat up, and took a look at the clock on the bedside table. Then she looked over at Fang with a strange mixture of irritation and amusement.

She was wondering whether she should be mad or not. Fang could guess that much. She grinned. Maybe she should help Lightning out a little with her decision. "You know I could've just dumped a bucket full of cold water on you. You should take that into consideration."

Lightning glared at her for a moment before she noticed the feather in Fang's hand. The glare turned into a smile. "That feather..."

Fang smiled back at her. Lightning smiling was a pretty rare sight. "You remember this, right?" She stuck the feather in her face again.

Lightning grabbed Fang's arm, and pulled the feather out of her face, giving Fang a playful smirk. "Of course. How could I forget? I think my wallet's still having nightmares about it."

Fang returned the smirk. "That's all?" She quickly yanked her arm back, causing Lightning to lose her balance. She fell off the bed, right into Fang's lap. "Because I was actually remembering something else." She gently slapped Lightning's posterior.

Lightning smiled, leaned closer, and gave Fang a quick kiss on the lips. "I love you, Fang," she whispered before burying her head in Fang's chest.

Fang couldn't help the smile forming on her lips. "I love you too, Light."

There was a long moment of silence, both of them feeling content with the way things were.

Lightning was the one who broke it. "So Fang, how did your night go? Did you take care of the monsters?"

Fang snapped out of her rosy thoughts. The nightly horrors came back to her mind, and she remembered how tired she was once again. Way to ruin the moment. Fang sighed loudly. "You shouldn't have asked."

Lightning knew what that meant all too well. She let out a sight too. "Honestly, Fang... You should have let me come with you. You're too stubborn."

Fang chuckled, stroking Lightning's hair. "I know. But that's why you love. You're just as stubborn as me."

Lightning rolled her eyes. "Next time something like that comes up, let me help you." She lifted her face to meet Fang's eyes. "Deal?"

"Deal."

...

**Author's Notes**

Part of the Fangrai Forever Gift Exchange, this is my gift for Freestylesmile. This is based on Fangrai Forever Prompt #220: Fang wakes Lightning up with a feather in the face.

I was in bit of a hurry with this, so it's unbetaed (is that even a word...). If there's any mistakes, feel free to point them out.


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